Linkibuzz Edition 26

And welcome to this week’s Linkibuzz! The entire world is still buzzing about Donald Trump getting elected as the 45th President of the United States, but we are not going to add our straw on the camel’s back. Instead, we are about to look the other way from the storm – at least for the time being. In case you need a break from the Trump-centric news from this week, we have got you covered with our batch of freshest and most thrilling business and entrepreneurship stories.

Please enjoy the reads while we explore together the options of charge-free banking for your small business and look into the reasons why India has just scrapped its 500 and 1000 rupee notes (it has done so basically overnight). We are also pondering the ramifications of a potential shortage of medical and care staff once Britain finally severs the ties with Europe, and seek for inspiration in this week’s motivational story about Biscuiteers, the online biscuit-selling business that have exceeded all of its (and pretty much everyone else’s) fundraising expectations.

Banking services may be the necessary evil when you are running a small business, but bank charges aren’t something you should easily dismiss as irrelevant or even unavoidable. The Federation of Small Businesses in cooperation with smallbusiness.co.uk recently published an article on reducing or altogether eliminating the banking costs, just as nine major British banks launched fee-free basic bank accounts. Explore your saving options and learn more precious tips and tricks in the article linked above.

This past Tuesday, the Indian finance minister announced a government initiative that sent ripples of shock throughout the country. Namely, in an attempt to lock out unaccounted money or the so-called “black money”, India has decided to scrap all of its old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. While trying to make a move towards the cashless economy, the country is still far away from it: Some estimate that the banknotes that were declared illegal tender have represented up to 85% of cash in circulation in India! Given that corruption and tax evasions are two of the main culprits of poverty, the government hopes this move will aid the goal of eradicating the poverty of Indian people.

Once the Brexit process is finalised and the government introduces a point-based immigration system, the priority should be given to medical and care staff, advises Adam Pike, a former policy adviser at the Cabinet Office and the Treasury. It is key to think beyond the three-year cycle and see further into the future, as some estimates show that 2025 Britain would have a shortage of 600,000 carers. “Our population is aging and we desperately need them (carers). We need to train a massive cadre of new careers, because there are workers in industries that are suffering now and they have skills that are applicable to care. If we paid the profession better, and treat it as a profession, we can attract lots of people.” concluded Pike.

Need a fresh whiff of inspiration and enthusiasm for your slightly stagnant business bravado? How about this story about Biscuiteers, an online biscuit-selling company that has managed to raise £1.25m from 784 investors in 31 countries on the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube? The investors have supported the next phase of the company’s growth, as the company intends to spend this money on marketing, manufacturing, infrastructure, retail and international growth. That’s just how the biscuit crumbles – at least for these guys!

Regardless of major political events that shook the world to its core like Brexit and Trump’s election, the globe continues to spin. And so will our small businesses and startups, so it is key that you fine-tune your daily operations and financial strategy as best as you can. Read about cutting down on your banking costs through a couple of nifty tricks and get inspired by an online biscuiting company that raised their capital for marketing and international growth via crowdfunding! And while India is trying to indirectly eliminate poverty by banning large rupee notes, Britain faces a completely different set of challenges, like the predicted shortage of medical and care staff in near future.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s handpicked links and stories, and see you again in seven days!

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“I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.”– Luke, Founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD

Luke is founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD, a cloud service provider for companies of all sizes. He started this business by himself but shortly after took on a co-founder, Lucy. Luke and Lucy have been working together for a year but have yet to set up a shareholders’ agreement.

They have been bootstrapping Happy Clouds’ growth and so have spent the bare minimum. A year on, the business is generating revenue and as the client base grows, Luke and Lucy need to ensure that their business foundations and customers contracts are bulletproof.

Luke and Lucy are fast-paced – they don’t have time to spend explaining their business model to lawyers, they want someone who can quickly understand what they want and run with it. They also don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.

Luke and Lucy come to Linkilaw. After getting their initial terms of business set out, they realise they also will need another 3 to 4 contracts in the next 12 months.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

4 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

3 drafts

Bonus legal advice

Digital only

Priority of service

Over non-members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

£2,500/year or £235/month

“We are scaling up but we want to make sure we get everything updated and in place too.”– Liam, Co-Founder of WineToGo

Liam is the co-founder of WineToGo. His business sources wine from a large network of wine producers and helps their customers select the best wines for their taste to get delivered to their homes. He founded his business with 3 co-founders (Lance, Lily and Larry) and has a shareholders’ agreement in place. The four of them met at university and decided to build their marketplace.

Lance and Larry are passionate about wine and have a background of oenology. Lily is a developer; she built the first platform and collaborated with Liam on business-related matters. They all work in a small office in North London.

After 1.5 years in business, WineToGo features a first selection of 20 UK wine providers and developed its activity in London. However, the business requires funding to expand to the UK (especially Manchester and Birmingham).

Liam and his co-founders are looking towards the future and are happy to get legal advice. They have a focus on investment but also want to explore the possibility of needing future contracts. They plan on having more team members in the near future (business development consultants to prospect wine producers and developers). Liam and his co-founders want to know what to expect and they should have in place for their growing company.

PRO MEMBERSHIP FOR

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

5 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

4 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls + in-person meetings

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

5 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

Unlimited

£7,500/year or £650/month

“My businesses are successful and I want legal services in the long term” – Lynn, Founder of ConsciousDressToImpress.com.

Lynn is a serial entrepreneur who has founded 6 businesses and successfully exited 3 of them. Her sixth and last business is a sustainable fashion brand that retails exclusively online on her website, ConsciousDressToImpress.com.

Lynn is currently generating a stable £4 million a year of revenue and makes between £750,000 and £950,000 of net profit yearly. She really loves being able to bring sustainability and awareness to one of the most polluting and wasteful industries on the market, and now wants to stop building businesses to just focus on this one.

Unlike her previous businesses, Lynn does not want to sell. She wants to stay managing director for the foreseeable future, as ConsciousDressToImpress grants her a job she loves and stable, high income.

Lynn has used Linkilaw previously in her other businesses and loved the work they did for her. It was made easy, accessible, and affordable. She loves being a Linkilaw member because she feels the Linkilaw team is focused on the long-term and on maintaining an honest, professional and friendly relationship with her and her business. Amelie, her dedicated legal point of contact is also a fan of sustainable fashion and loves wearing ConsciousDressToImpress.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

6 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

3 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

5 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

30 minutes per contract

£9,000/year or £800/month

“I want a check-up on my contracts and make sure everything is in place.”– Logan, Founder of InvestMap App

Logan created the InvestMap App 5 years ago with one of his long-term colleagues, Lauren. InvestMap is the tool for people who never invested and want to start. Via the app, the consumer learns about how to make wise and long-term beneficial choices; is invited to invest at the right time, and gets updated on the next gold mine.

Logan and Lauren already have a few consultants and their app has been adopted increasingly that it’s now difficult for them to manage their activity with their original team. They now want to implement more structure into InvestMap in order to get more staff and be able to get to the next level.

Logan comes to Linkilaw and expects to review the first contracts that have been drafted when he started his business and get more for his new coming employees. He is very keen on ticking boxes and making sure that InvestMap is secure as it goes on.

It’s been 8 years since Leah created Move.In, selling kits for students moving to another city (including cutlery, first food, sanitary and emergency essentials). Leah started on her own the business but hired 41 employees during these couple of years. She has now 30 employees and operated over the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

With long-term partner contracts who feed her a stable stream of leads, Move.In has established itself as a leader in the market and currently generates over £3 million of yearly revenue. Its growth is also steady (5-10% a month).

Leah is looking for a legal advisor who will take on the role of in-house legal counsel, but without working full-time. She wants to work with someone who knows and understands her business and proposes the most commercially minded decisions. She doesn’t have the budget for full-time legal counsel, but would nevertheless like to have a lawyer she can reach whenever she wants.

Leah was looking for someone who had expertise in both commercial contracts – ensuring she created real win-win situations in her partnerships – and employment – managing employee onboarding documents such as offer letters, employment and option agreements, staff handbook. Leah now works with a dedicated Linkilaw lawyer and is delighted that she is able to work with a senior lawyer at a rate that is significantly under her budget.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

9 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

2 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls + meetings

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

1 hour per contract

£12,800/year or £1,200/month

“I want to get legal work sorted with a moderate budget.”– Lara, App developer

Lara is an app developer who created custom mobile applications for startups. She often works from her clients’ offices to get immediate feedback on her work. When she’s not working from a client’s office, she works from a co-working space or from a local cafe. Her accountant recently told her she should create a business entity for tax and liability purposes.

Lara’s business is already taking off, so she has a moderate budget to spend on getting her legal work sorted. She knows she wants to incorporate her business, write her own terms of business to use with clients (instead of just accepting the terms they provide her with), and make sure her new website has the documents it needs, but she’s not confident in her legal knowledge. She wants access to legal advice for all the small questions that pop-up day-to-day.

Lara loves working with Linkilaw because her dedicated legal point of contact, Gillian, is knowledgeable, responsive and friendly. She likes that Gillian knows and understands her business and long-term goals. The legal solutions Lara receives from Linkilaw are not only accurate, but they are also commercially-minded and thoroughly thought through.

Lara is grateful to have been introduced to Linkilaw by a friend and she now recommends the Linkilaw membership to her clients.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

3 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

5 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

Unlimited

£4,000/year or £350/month

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